David Chung has been named president of Maxxmedia, Vickers & Benson’s new media planning and placement company.

Maxxmedia is the last building block to be laid in the restructuring of Vickers & Benson Companies Limited; the process has resulted in the formation of four wholly-owned subsidiary companies.

To enable vbcl to bring media back into the company, it sold its 50% stake in Genesis Media to Genesis effective Dec. 1.

Chung, well-known in the media and research communities, brings more than 20 years’ experience to his new post.

He was most recently senior vice-president, national media director at Lowe SMS, now merged into Roche Macaulay & Partners, and has also held senior media positions at J. Walter Thompson, Foote Cone & Belding, and MacLaren:Lintas (now MacLaren McCann).

John Hayter, chairman and ceo of vbcl, says Chung’s responsibilities will expand beyond traditional mass media into relationship marketing.

‘David is very much a leader in the research area, and we have invested a lot in new technology. We’re planning to integrate databases that will allow us to do really smart things with direct response as a medium,’ says Hayter. ‘His expertise in research is going to be invaluable to us in that area.’

At Roche Macaulay, Elaine Lindsay, who was second-in-command to Chung, has been promoted to senior vice-president, national media director.